Tennis-court marker.



Permit SEGIFICJLTIGN forming' ore-oooer thieme.

part of Letters Potent No. 632,891, dated September l2, 1399.

Appieation ieo. August 23, 1898. Serial No 589,316. KN@ model.)

To @Ll w21/0m, to2/(ty concern:

.Be known that i, Hrm-:Y Briatore BUP.- NETT, ft citizen of the i, ted Sintes, residing at Peterborough, in the r rovi'oce of Ontario, Canada', have invented o n er. :md useful Tennis-Court Marker, of which the following is e specification.

Myinven tion reim-es to that class of tennis court markers designed io use dry White powdered materiel, distinct from those using Whitened iiqoid for marking" the llines of tenois-courts.

It consists, esseotieily, of hog for holding' the powdered materiel :md e. wheel et the bottom, which serves :es o ond-support for the hoz( and it the sir-me time serves the additionoi function or" eem-ying the powder from the box to the ground and feeding and distributing it uniformly oo the line traversed by the Wheel.

AYThe objectte'provido o markerthet een be more oheepiy mede and at' the seme time give more sotisfe-etory resulte end oe less likeiy to get out of order than other markers of the same'geheroi ole-.ssv

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a. side View, sind Fig. :Z a. front View, of the marker.

B represents the box for 'holding the powdered materiel.

W represents the wheel, designed to rest on the ground and to fit in to reeteogolar-shepedA vopening in the lower port ot' the box, having at the point O t little larger space thon elsewhere, but of such size that the powder will not freely escape from the box. until the wheel is revolved, when the roughened periphery of the Whee'eerries the powder along with it out 'from the hor; it point O and thence to the ground.

'm m is it U-shtped metal bar, to the free ends ir which is pivoted the axle of the Wheel,

, the two firms of :the 'oa-r being pivotrtily otteched zit p p to the opposite sides of the hondie-piece H, which also servos es asupport tothe box B. Y

S S' is o curved .'lot spring fastened to the handle H at one end, While the other end presses against the har m m et S', tending to hold the har iu contact with the Wing-nut n. This Wing-nut it by being screwed up onto the stationary boit o moves the Wheel within the opening of the box-,so its to chiarire the `iperture 'at point G, and the, permit alarger quantity of powder 2.o be delivered. ly properly setting the adjusting-ii i1. t n :my desired quantity of powder may be i'ed @oto the line, thus securing the desired dist-him hess and permaneriee in the marking. The flot curved spring S S' serves to keep the har m m in cor;- tnet with the nut n` when the leiter is |m. screwed in order to diminish the size et' the opening at O, tod also allows the opening et O to outomatieally enlarge whenever it stone, o lumpof the materiel, or other-ol struction becomes clogged in the peeeege, thus itiimvving the-obstruction to escape, after which the opening at O im medioteiy :resi: mes its noi-mol size. This spring S S is not, however, esseri` tial to the Working of the eppemtos, with the powdered materiel properiy selected or prepared obstructions are not likely to he eu countered. The spring might he iispeised with ond still permit of au edjuetmeotof the position oi' the wheei by using in piece of n. a uut having an annular groove for erigziging the cross-branch of the har fm, m. l (lo not therefore eoune myself to the particular arrangement of spring and adjusting device here shown. There are several modifica-tions making use of different styles of springs which any mechanic couid adapt to the pera ticular form of box and support which Vthe manufacturer might choose to adopt. The Wheel might he mode adjustable io position by providing grooves or other Ways in whichthe 'oars m 'm or other simiier supports for the Wheel might slide and 'oe clamped in The desired position. Moreover, the boxmight be made in any one of t variety of shapes ond, if desired, be supported by one or more ftddi tional Wheels other than the marking-wheel; but it is believed that no advantage of importance would he gained hy such modifications,-while additional Wheels edd to the complexity of the apparatus and expenee of: umuufaeture. to that here shown is preferred.

Y I do not limit myselfvto any particular shape or composition of the wheel, the only eesen tials being that it shall be eireuier or symmetrical with respect to its axis ond thet'itperiphery be somewhat roughened. It may be composed Wholly or ih port of Wood, iron, or

For these reasons a form similar .,any'other suitable material. lts periphery7V may be, in section, a straight line or an are of a circle; but it is preferred toma-ke the wheel avsirnple geometrical cylindervabout two inches long, whose axis is the axis of the Wheel. lThe surface of the periphery should besuieiently rough or coarse grained to catch andV carry along with it a thin layer of the vpowdered material as it passes through the xo. Ebody. of thelatter. This roughness may conisist of indentations, corrugations, or otherI Li'egular unevenness in the surface ofthe wood iron, or other material composing Vthe wheel, v orit may consist of a rough-textu red material t5 tacked upon or glued to the smooth surface -of the wheel.' Any coarse fabric-such as "felt, carpet, or loosely-woven cloth-will answer the purpose. A very slight degree of roughness, suchA as would be left on the pezo riphery ci' a wheel sawed from a two-inch board, would answer my purpose, but not so satisfactorily as if such a wheel had its peripheryeovered by a one-quarter-inch layer of coarse vfelt or a layer of Brussels carpet.

What -I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, in a tennis court marker, of a 'wheel with a rough periphery Yand a boxer chamber having an opening in 3o its lower part of suitable size to permit -a portion of the wheel to enterand practically close 'or nearly close the opening substantially as and for the purpose set forth. f

2. The combination, in a tennis-court 15 marker, of a Wheel with its periphery coveredwith felt or other material of similar surface and resilience, and a box or chamber having opening in its lower part of suitable size to permit a portion of the Wheel to enter and .1.opractically close or nearly close the opening, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a tennis -conrt marker of a wheel with its periphery roughened or co'yered with felt or other coarse, re-

silient material, a box or reservoir with an' opening in its lower part of suitable size to permit a portion of the Wheel to enter and practically close or nearly close the opening,

and an adjustable support for the wheel whereby the opening at one portion of the 5o periphery of the wheel may be easily varied in size substantially as and for the purpose set forth. l

4. The combination, in a tennis-court marker or" a wheel with its periphery roug'h- 55 ened or covered with felt or. other coarse, rf, "silient material, a box or reservoir with an opening in its lower part of suitable size to permit a port-ion of the wheel to enter and practically close or nearly close the opening, 6o an adjustable support for the wheel whereby the opening at one portion of the periphery of the wheel may he easily varied in size, and a spring in connection with the adjusting device whereby the Wheel will move automatically when pressed by an obstacle so a's 'to enlarge said opening but will not permit said opening to be diminished to a size less than that for which it has been adjusted, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.`

5, A tennis-court marker consisting of a box or reservoir, -a wheel, with its periphery ronghened or covered with coarse resilient material and supported to permit of being revolved while practically closing' or nearly 75 closing-an aperture or opening in the lower part of the box, and with a suitable handle for use in propelling the apparatus, substantially as described.

6. A marker for tennis-courts orother simi- 8o lar use, consisting of a box or reservoir,'a I wheel with its periphery roughened or covered with rough resilient materialandsupport-ed toV permit of being revolved while practically closing, or nearly closing an aperture or open 85 ing in the lower part of the box, and with its 'support adjustableso as to permit the wheel to be easily varied in position so as to Vary the size of the opening at one portion of the periphery of `the wheel, and with a suitable 9o handle for use in propelling the apparatus,

yall substantially as described.

" HENRY BARLIN G BURNETT.

lrVitnesses:

R. R. HALL,

M, l. HALL. 

